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Photos and Description of this 3 bedroom holiday villa in Brașov County - Casa Heidi

The Guardian selected our cozy self-catering villa discretely located in the pristine mountain village of Bran as one of Europe's most fantastic vacation homes. Just imagine the soundtrack created by the mountain creek running steps away from the villa, the almost daily visits paid by the squirrels running through our trees along the creek, the permanent wonderful concert offered by dozens of birds, some of Transylvania's most popular sites within walking distance from the house. Through all these, we fulfilled first and foremost our own dream. The fabulous surrounding views, the combination of rustic designs & modern features, the abundant presence of warm colors, the double Jacuzzi in the roof attic, the soft pure cotton bedding, the down duvets and pillows, the beautiful, , over one hundred year old traditional hand painted dowry chests decorating various corners of the house, the thermostatic taps in all showers, the recently installed WIFI, the radio / CD / MP player next to EACH bed, the large wooden, cushioned garden swing or the fully equipped kitchen, the silent washing machine that you can use are just a bonus : ) Forget many of the "sorry, but this is not included" that we hear so often in many parts of Western Europe!

These and many other features speak for what the main goal of this villa has been: to offer pleasure, relaxation & peace of mind.

After seeing many other places in the world & picking ideas from them all, we have chosen this village in the heart of Romania to host our only vacation nest. From it you can walk to Dracula's Castle, to a ski slope or to a Nat. Park, start stunning round walks and more. Enjoy having both 21st century treats as well as bits of live history unchanged for centuries!

About Dinu

I left Romania as a teenager. I could not forget Bran, in which I spent my childhood's most wonderful vacations. I thought that Bran will eventually become part of my past, as so many other people and places did. A few years ago, after traveling the world (also through my work as a travel photographer, working for the National Geographic magazine among others), an overwhelming nostalgia, forced me to admit that I would never forgive myself if I will not somewhat recreate my childhood’s nest in this fairy place. It also became clear to me that with all the respect to Europe’s super-well-established travel destinations, there is nothing as intensively beautiful as this place. So I built this house. One hundred steps away from the house my parents built theirs, which we lost, once we left Communist Romania. Today I am so happy to spend not only my vacations, but those of my son (born outside of Romania), as well as that of my parents, so many years after they offered me the same treat.

Dinu purchased this villa in 2006

Why Dinu chose Romania

1) We think that (also) the house and for sure the area, are Heaven.

2) So did 'The Guardian'.

3) So did most of those well-travelled Western travelers who greatly enjoyed our house and its surroundings, people who in most cases have never experienced this part of the world before. It made us quite glad and proud to find out that some of them only decided to 'check out Romania' once they saw our offer.

What makes this villa unique

We did not purchase this house.

We built it from scratch.

Building it along the same mountain stream, below the same mountain peaks as the house I spent my childhood's best part in, was essential.

I did not create it as a quickly improvised business, but as my and my family's 'sole recharging station'. And it does just that and so well!

Each and every choice (idea / object) in this house was the result of a long process, sometimes brought from far away, with great efforts.

For my family, the house and the breathtaking views in its surroundings are THE reason to return again and again, a few times a year, but beyond the old / eternal attractions, there are more and more new sites and activities in the area making (y)our vacations into an unique and ideal combination of nature and history + 21st century treats.

Guestbook comments from the owner

We looked for a beautiful, quiet, private place, where no tourists will be in sight. Initially, even though we did read the positive reviews on Casa Heidi, somehow we still thought that the place was a regular guest house which can be full of other guests and had mixed feelings about that. Once we understood that the villa is private and can only be shared by one group at a time, we took it and we’re so glad we did! The place is just fantastic in every aspect. The stunning villa, away from Bran’s crowded center (because of the castle), surrounded by the spectacular endless tranquil green landscape, flavored by the relaxing babbling of the adjacent brook. The house is perfectly designed for a family or for a few couples (we were two couples). It is furnished according to the owners’ personal and special taste, a blend of traditional Romanian pieces with modern, clean, warm colors radiating an atmosphere of warm homey beauty, a great place to return to following a hike or just to wake up in, enjoying the morning coffee. On lazy days, the front and back terraces offer great seats towards the garden and the surround hills. Dinu is a special person who deeply loves the place he created. He did everything to make sure we felt comfortable and had everything we needed. He offered us a lot of information about walks, activities, attractions in the area, including about Brasov, the beautiful neighboring medieval Saxon town. His suggestions were of great value. We will return for sure for our next family reunion.

Absolutely superb - in all respects

We spent absolutely great holidays in Casa Heidi in Bran. And we want to thank Dinu for all his efforts with explaining everything to us in advance, and also Mircea who was very friendly and helpful during our stay. So we really felt welcome on our first visit to Romania. The marvellous house and the fantastic landscape - extraordinary. The house was just as described by Dinu. Everything practical, clean and cosy; the special architecture, the old wedding chests and the artistic photographs give the casa a very individual atmosphere. We felt immediately „at home“. The weather was mainly very nice, so we spent most time on the terrace – a gorgeous idea is the moveable table on rolls with an integrated parasol. The one day we had to eat and sit indoors in the evening was really cosy. In the kitchen we found everything to cook a nice meal, and everything was practical.

The bedrooms were lovely decorated with light colours and very comfortable mattresses. We were 5 persons – two couples and a single person – and enjoyed the luxury of all bedrooms having their private bathroom.

And then the quietness. No cars or other noise. It was just the little brook which borders the garden we would sometimes hear with a gentle, soothing splashing. It was a pity that we stayed for just one week, so we wanted to see a lot of this wonderful part of the world, and couldn’t enjoy the terrace and the balcony as much as we would have liked.

The casa is not too far from the village centre of Bran – you can walk there within about 15 minutes, but far enough from it as not to be bothered by the tourists visiting Bran castle – which we found also quite interesting. We enjoyed being in Bran, so we had supermarkets and restaurants nearby.

And apart from the wonderful house we were fascinated by the gorgeous countryside. You could just sit there and admire the scenery! Dinu supplied us with a lot of helpful information. This made it easy for us to find interesting places: lovely small towns (we’ve never seen this special and impressing kind of churches and castles before), nice walks – from easy to more demanding. We liked the rural area; life seemed to be less hectic and time even appeared to have stood still a bit.

And either Mircea or Dinu could be contacted at any time. So we always felt to be in really good hands. This was very reassuring, although we didn’t really need it, as everything worked just smoothly.

We'd really like to come again! Once more: Thanks a lot, Dinu!!!

Review Submitted: Sep 21, 2016

Date of Stay: Jun 2016

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: Dear I., : )
We are so glad you had a good time, thank you! May we keep having the pleasure of hosting such lovely people!
For us this place is part of...who we are, so it's really so nice to see how people who never had any link to Romania do sense and appreciate the special charm of this area that we are so in love with!
We gladly share with our guests the information we ourselves gather during our numerous leisure days here. Not only nature and history related, but also the new-er man-made ones.
We'll be so glad to see you back soon!
Heidi and Dinu

Made for a really wonderful holiday!

We stayed at Casa Heidi for 8 days back in August 2016, from the very first email with Dinu and Heidi we felt welcomed and informed about our upcoming stay, they really did go above and beyond in informing us on everything we needed to know about the house and the local area and any questions which weren't in the helpful guide he provided were answered in a matter of hours by email or whatsapp. We travelled up by car from Bucharest and arrived at the house after a long day of travelling, the house is amazing, spacious, clean, well equipped and in such a wonderful location! We had stopped in the town to equip ourselves with supplies and had a BBQ on the beautiful terrace!

During the week we were able to do all the things we wanted within easy reach of the house, bear watching in Zarnesti, Rasnov, Brasov and the 7 ladders canyon walk along with countless beautiful walks right on our doorstep. At the end of a long day we were able to take the short walk into the village down the hill for a great choice of dinner and drink options. This really was the most lovely accommodation in a great setting and would not hesitate to recommend to others or to return ourselves and can honestly say there is nothing about the house we would change! One point we would make is travelling on the road up to Bran from Bucharest we experienced very heavy traffic, maybe because it was a Thursday in the summer so it was local tourist traffic, however we would advise if you have a flight to catch on your return journey to allow plenty of time.

Review Submitted: Sep 15, 2016

Date of Stay: Aug 2016

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: Thank you for your comments and we will indeed try to suggest all our guests to avoid weekends. Looking forward seeing you again! H & D

Magic Villa in a Magic Land

My husband and I and our two children, ages 8 and 5, spent 12 nights in Casa Heidi in August 2014. There was more than enough space for us, with one bedroom and ensuite bathroom that we never used. The villa is just beautiful, with tons of natural light, making even the one dark, rainy day we had seem very tolerable. The kitchen is fully stocked and we couldn't think of anything we needed, other than a bit easier time with the wifi. Usually we wouldn't need it but work back home demanded we keep in touch. Still, it wasn't a big deal as the wifi would come and go. Other than that, the location was superb. We had a renal car which we used a lot to explore nearby cities and towns, but some days we'd just walk into Bran or go for hikes in the many hills and mountains surrounding the villa. We can't recommend this villa or it's location in the magical land of Transylvania, highly enough. Thanks Dinu!

Review Submitted: Sep 8, 2014

Date of Stay: Aug 2014

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: Dear Phairis & family, it was great to host you. The wifi issue will be 100% solved once we will have a landline. Until then, sticking the USB modem directly into the laptop is the best solution....

It can't get better than this..

If the terms "getaway" and "wanderlust" are more common to you than "5* Penthouse in centre of the city" or if you're on Pinterest and pinning on that "Dream home" board, you must add Casa Heidi to your collection and spend a couple of days and nights there.

It's such a beautifully crafted, cozy and quiet place that leaves in awe even the more experienced traveler.

The chalet seems to have been built for bohemian souls and combines Romanian and Scandinavian design lines. We stayed in for a weekend in November, intimately celebrating my fiancé in his 30's. "The dream house" lies between the green hills of Bran, in a quiet area, by a scarce river. It has 3 bedrooms with private bathrooms and a retractable sofa in the living. There is a fully equipped open kitchen with a dining area. The ground floor is built in open space and every detail fits perfectly. There are parking places in front of the house, a swing in the courtyard and a grill. And when you think it can't get better that this, you discover that at the 2nd floor lies a large jacuzzi with a view to the nearby hills of green and forest of pines.

Another surprise is the front terrace where you can have coffee in the morning in front of a beautiful scenery. We didn't as it was quite cold outside.

We talked to our host over the phone and met near the town centre. He showed us the way to the house and presented us all the appliances. He is very polite, yet humorous and witty and somehow seems to be himself an extension of that place.

The price is higher than average for Bran but it also offers a different experience. If you want to warm your soul, clear your mind, rest and get inspiration for building your dream home, you cannot miss Casa Heidi!

Minor detail: there was no WiFi, as the pre-paid Internet was not charged. So remember to ask for it when making the reservation, if you think you may need it. But my assumption is that you'll forget about the world wide web when you step on the doorway. As we did :)

Review Submitted: May 12, 2014

Date of Stay: Nov 2013

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: Our only “problem” with this review is our fear that being so positive, potential guests may suspect that we edited it ourselves. So…we really, really did not! We actually thought that Laura completely forgot her vacation in Casa Heidi. We are really overwhelmed and happy.
Regarding the Internet – we ask our guests to tell us in advance if it is needed, as for local technical reasons, the Internet card needs to be recharged “upon request”.

Wish we had stayed longer

We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in Transylvania in general, and Casa Heidi in particular.

Pretty much everywhere we went, and everything we did, was much better even than we'd anticipated. Casa Heidi made a great base and the walk up the valley from the house was magical. The scenery was so good you could hardly believe it, and the odd passing horse-drawn cart just completed the picture. The guide to the locality was very useful and the house was very comfortable. We slept well after viewing the night sky, which was so full of stars, not to mention the occasional distant sound of wolves howling. Mircea was very friendly & helpful, and we had amusing conversations in a mixture of French, Romanian & English. The jacuzzi was a bonus too. We very much enjoyed Bran Castle, the Bear Sanctuary, Zarnesti Gorge, Sigishoara and walking in the mountains.

The children didn't want to leave, which I could understand, and in fact my 16 year old son said it was the best holiday he'd ever been on.

We would very much like to return, as, though we were there for 10 days, we still ran out of time and missed exploring quite a few more beautiful looking places.

Just one small thing to mention is that there is a new house right next door (on the sloping side of the house) which doesn't appear in these pictures

Review Submitted: Feb 5, 2014

Date of Stay: Aug 2013

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: The more we travel (in Western Europe), the better we understand why what we offer is highly appreciated by our guests.
We really do offer MUCH MORE THAN WHAT ONE CAN CALL "BASIC SERVICES" IN A SELF-CATERING VACATION HOUSE, without charging any extra fees. We did, do and will keep doing this more and more, as we strongly feel that WE WANT to offer much more than four walls and a roof.
If it is "tradition" which does “not allow” hosts from certain parts of western Europe to offer basic things like towels, bedding, washing up liquid, more than one role of toilet paper, etc. (we really dealt with this again and again during our own vacations in recent years), we are proud to lack in (such) "traditions"!
Mike, we cannot wait to host you again!

A home away from home

After a long journey by train and then by taxi we arrived in Bran and were welcomed to our 'home' for a week. A gorgeous house surrounded by hills, fields, beautiful scenery, the sounds of a babbling stream and tinkling cow bells. After we had wandered through the house, with explanations from our guide regarding all operations of the kitchen, heating, bathrooms, bedding and how to operate the spa on the top floor, we quickly settled into the relaxing feel of our home.

The home is well equipped if you wish to prepare your own meals, with all the necessary kitchen items. Rooms are warm, spacious and very comfortable. All linen is provided.

The spa on the top floor, accessed by a ladder from the bedrooms, was certainly a draw card for us, and well used. If you need time to relax from your busy trip, then lying in the roomy spa, overlooking the mountain peaks, green hills and fields is certainly the way to go.

We did not have our own transport and although the home is close to the township, it was limiting when we wished to travel further afield. There are however buses that travel regularly to nearby Brasov and taxis too are a great alternative for sightseeing.

A 15 minute walk to the centre of the township revealed the imposing Bran Castle, overlooking the goings on in the town. Well worth a visit, the many rooms and hallways in the castle have been lovingly restored, and you can wander through out the castle and appreciate the views of Bran and the countryside from many different aspects.

Correspondence through emails regarding payment was easy and information given by our host regarding activities in the area was appreciated.

Hopefully we will be able to return and spend some more time in this beautiful home.

Thank you Heidi & Dinu! : )

Review Submitted: Jan 15, 2014

Date of Stay: Nov 2013

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: It was an honor to be chosen by two such lovely Australians after their (successful and exhausting) championship in Bulgaria. There were quite a few other…countries (and villas) they could have chosen to relax in. We created this house for charging our own batteries, emptied by the stressful city life and we are so glad to see that what we created as our own cozy dream vacation house is perceived as such by people from so far away, who do not have any inherited love for the area. But beyond our own house: the area is indeed stunning and deserves immense credit!
We will so gladly host you again, Jo and Ben!

New attractions appear every other day here, but inside the village of Bran, the most spectacular thing to do is hiking along its paths, its creeks, its hills, enjoying its wild peacefulness and breathtaking views. Once you do this, enjoying its good restaurants will come quite naturally. The ski slope is just 2 km away from the house. This is where, in the summer, you'll start your walks inside the 'Bucegi National Park': a great combination of fir forests, mountain creeks, wild strawberry, raspberry, mushrooms and no traffic at all. OK, before leaving don't forget 'Dracula's Castle', surrounded by a very good 'village museum' where you'll get an idea of how life used to be and look like in Bran's surroundings. Casa Heidi is a great base for one day trips in the area. Horse back riding, mountain biking, water park, a great Bear park, Dinosaur Park, Spa with a great swimming pool, wonderful massages, a very good zip line and adventure park, interesting caves, classical concerts in a medieval church, wonderful cake shops, paragliding (with or without engine), Jeep tours, short and long hiking in the mountains, and more are just some of the extra attractions. The most wonderful Medieval Saxon towns, fortified churches (part of which are UNESCO sites) and fortresses are never too far. Ski: The ski site in Bran very close, suitable for beginners. Some 25 km away you have a variety of slopes for all levels, in Poiana Brasov.

All three bedrooms have an en suite bathroom with shower cabins, sink and toilet and recently, for maximum comfort, we also installed very efficient electric heaters for tough winter days when, if you leave a slightly opened window during the night, that may challenge the users of the bathroom in the morning. To avoid any accident, these heaters are connected through a timer. On the first floor there is a separate toilet with a sink. In the attic there is a double jacuzzi with a shower and a toilet.

We have chosen our favorite: -beddings - pure, soft cotton, -pillows - pure down and -ideal mattresses (medium-hard, very comfortable and really good 'for all backs tested so far'). - Radio -CD - MP player next to EACH double bed - All three bedrooms have their en suite bathroom. There is a double sofa in the living room. On top of the both upper bedrooms there is a space where two single foldable beds can be placed (a total of 4 more people can sleep in these two spaces). Alternatively, these single beds can be placed in the bedrooms themselves. What is for many of us a self-understood feature of a normal bedroom seems to be rare in this part of the world: the option to block the light, to keep the bedroom dark when you wish (need) to sleep in. In our house you will have that.

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